Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei (R) with Hamas leader Ismail Haniya. (ISNA/File photo)
Iran is renewing its financial and military support of Hamas.
Iran is holding meetings with the Hamas terror group with the objective of renewing ties between the two sides and resuming Iran’s financial support for the organization, Asharq al-Awsat reported Tuesday.
Members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and senior Hezbollah members were among those presents at the talks in Lebanon.
According to the report, Iran and Hamas agreed to restore diplomatic relations to the level at which they were before the Syrian civil war, when the sides broke off their close ties.
The report also said that Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh is expected to visit Tehran in the near future.
The agreement was supported by the commander of IRGC’s al-Quds Brigades, Kassam Soleimani, Ismail Haniyeh, and Hamas’ new Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar.
Hamas reduced its staff by 30 percent, including the armed Qassam Brigades, because of financial difficulties.
Iran took advantage of the change in leadership to reinstate the relationship.
Iran supported Haniyeh in his leadership bid over his opponent Musa Abu Marzouk, after Tehran accused Marzouk of lying when he said that Iran was not transferring financial aid to Hamas, and that relations between Hamas and Iran were frozen.
Iran supported Haniyeh, who leans towards reconciliation with Iran, unlike former leader Khaled Mashaal.
Based on the agreement, Iran relinquishes its demand that Hamas take Iran’s side in its long battle between the Islamic Republic and Saudi Arabia.
Relations between Hamas and Iran have been tense since the beginning of the conflict in Syria in 2011. Hamas’ refusal to support the Bashar al-Assad regime, Iran’s main ally in the region, angered Tehran, prompting it to cut its financial and military aid to the terror group.
In recent years, Iran has been working to broaden its influence in the Middle East through the support of its terrorism network.
During his recent trip to Saudi Arabia, US President Donald Trump Trump slammed Iran for spreading “destruction and chaos” throughout the region. His comments were echoed by Saudi King Salman, who declared, “The Iranian regime has been the spearhead of global terrorism.”
“From Lebanon to Iraq to Yemen, Iran funds, arms and trains terrorists, militias and other extremist groups that spread destruction and chaos across the region,” Trump said.
By: World Israel News Staff
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